


they said I was found by the side of a road

by glowingbluesketches



Series: Alexandra and Anya [2]
Category: Anastasia (1997), Anastasia - Flaherty/Ahrens/McNally
Genre: Angst, Drabble, F/M, Historical References, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 04:29:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16055564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glowingbluesketches/pseuds/glowingbluesketches
Summary: Anastasia could feel the tugging on her arm and the blistering cold, but that all paled in comparison to the pained familiar grunts she could hear, to the spark she could feel in her heart that she had once thought had died when three final shots were fired into her ill, baby brother's ear.Maria was alive.(MARIA IS ALEXANDRA VERSION).





	they said I was found by the side of a road

**Author's Note:**

> God bless AO3 for giving Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Alexei their own tags, no matter how different they are from each other!

God must be furious if it was snowing in July.

It was summer, why was it so _cold?_

The snow against her back and her legs soaked into her clothes and she shivered in response, lurching to try and escape the sensation, when she halted any movement and opened her eyes to a black and white view.

Anastasia could feel the tugging on her arm and the blistering cold, but that all paled in comparison to the pained familiar grunts she could hear, to the spark she could feel in her heart that she had once thought had died when three final shots were fired into her ill, baby brother's ear.

After it had began to chip away the minute the first bullet had hit her Papa square in the chest, followed by the rain of bullets that followed after.

When her Mama hit the floor with a bullet through the temple.

When the head she had identified as Olga's lurched backwards so fast and so hard it snapped her neck, leaving the pooling blood coming from the hole in her jaw where the one, single bullet had entered as she fell against her mother's weight.

When Tatiana crumpled to the floor after standing so bravely and with the aura of a daughter of the Tsar, staring their lead executioner right in the eye before he fired his gun into her head.

When Maria had kicked and scratched at their attacker, falling silent with one shot.

And finally, when a breathing Alexei groaned and begged and clawed at their father's coat as the men in the room kicked and kicked the child who should have been Tsar, before Yurovsky ended his suffering with three bullets to the temple.

Now, that spark had returned just a little, or maybe it hadn't left at all, with the soft but strong grip on her arm.

Maria was alive.

_Maria was alive!_

Words failed to escape her, and instead the Romanov pulling her was met with the sound of chattering teeth.

"Mas..." she began again, and Maria suddenly stopped pulling her. It was only then did she realize that the black shadows she could see were actually trees, and the white falling from the dark sky was snow.

Maria, her beautiful golden Mandrifolie, tightened her grip on her arm and pulled her to a leaning position against a tree, before collapsing next to her. Anastasia could only turn her head and look at her sister.

Immediately she could see how she had survived the gun to the head. The right side of her head that once was covered in golden blond hair was matted with blood, and some strands had been torn away to show the deep gash in her skull. 

Ermakov had been drunk and instead of the bullet hitting Maria's head dead on, it had only grazed her and had caused her to fall unconscious, leaving her to bleed heavily on the floor of the basement. Like she had died instantly.

It didn't seem to cause her any pain though, although wearing the same amount of clothing as her youngest sister, her cheeks were rosy as ever and her big round blue eyes large and full of life.

But, as the closest person and confidant to Maria, Anastasia could see a layer of innocence and sweetness that pretty much made up the very being of Maria Nikolaevna had been stripped away from her.

Anastasia couldn't blame her; she felt she had lost everything in herself on that night.

"What are we going to do, Nastya?" Maria finally whispers, and she could not answer.

Even when her dear, brave, sweet sister got up to go and find help before they both died of hypothermia, disregarding the fact she had been shot in the leg and had ignored the pain to pull Anastasia to safety and was most likely in agony (which why bringing Anastasia along wasn't such a good idea, she had tried to stand up but had fallen down because of the coldness setting into her bones), she still could not answer.

And many years later, when they met again, she still couldn't.

* * *

The woman who had came to be called 'Miss Unknown' in the Yekaterinburg hospital she had stayed in for the past month woke up on the 12th August with a smile on her face.

She would be leaving today!

Even though she could not remember a thing and had nowhere to go she was happy to be finally leaving, and for some reason, she was excited to be gone.

It wasn't like the hospital scared her or anything, she could stay here forever, it was just that she needed to get to someone, regardless if she didn't know who that was exactly.

"Good morning dear!" the darling nurse she saw on a regular basic, Irina, greeted he as she brought in breakfast. A bowl of broth and some freshly cut fruit.

They would have moved her onto the black bread, but the flinching and wincing she did when she saw it made Irina convince the other nurses to feed her something else. They agreed, only because everyone adored the woman who had been brought into their hospital nearly a month ago, suffering from hypothermia and wounds to the head, leg and chest.

She had been found unconsciousness on the side of the road, only a mile outside of the city, and had seemed to have escaped some sort of torture. They couldn't tell where she had come from, considering the snow had covered her tracks but they had some knowledge that her sister, whoever she was, was also out there. She was most likely dead by now from hypothermia, as search parties failed to recover a second girl.

Then this woman had woken up a few days later, bandaged and warm, with no recollection of who she was.

The doctor had told them that the gash, caused by a bullet, couldn't have been the reason she had forgotten everything about her life. The gash was nowhere near the portion of the brain contributed to memory, but psychological factors _could_ explain it.

Her brain was protecting her by suppressing all previous memories into her subconscious mind, until it was ready to remember.

So she had became 'Miss Unknown' and a source of happiness to the staff. She was just so full of kindness and sweetness that they couldn't possibly ignore her!

And, one of the most important things, was that she was hit with memories from time to time and she never even knew it. Irina recalled the time, only a few weeks ago, of one of the nurses named Vera telling Miss Unknown and some other patients of her naughty dog, and she had laughed and said 'Mama's dog Eira used to do the exact same thing!'.

Then she would have forgotten the situation before anyone could confront her.

It was a positive sign that she would remember one day, but just not right now.

Regardless of memory loss, she had healed up nicely and the entire staff had decided, with much sorrow, to release her, but not before giving her a name. She needed one, she couldn't be Miss Unknown forever.

"Irina!" she smiled after she had finished her breakfast. "I'm so happy! It's Baby's birthday!"

"Oh is it?" Irina smiled. It had been decided early on not to question whenever memories started popping up, and go along with it so she could try and remember what she had said. Trick her brain into remembering that small piece of information. "How old would he be?"

"13? 14?" she shrugged. "I don't remember."

"It's all right." Irina reassured. "You will one day; remember, every memory or thought retaining to your past life is a clue."

"I know that, but-" she grinned. "I remembered a name today."

"You did?" Irina grew curious. What name had she remembered, and could she even recall what it was? She waited with bated breath. "What was it?"

"Alexandra." her eyes shone so bright and she clasped her hands together with such joy she didn't notice the new dawning look that had appeared in Irina's eyes. "Maybe it's my name, or even someone I've known!"

I've _known_. Not _I know_. Another clue.

"Well," Irina smiled. "Why don't you use that name, until you find whoever it actually belongs too."

Miss Unknown thought for a moment, pondering on the idea.

She was going to go with Nadezhda or even Olga but using Alexandra, a name she knew was linked to her past, just until she remembered her own name or even who it belonged too made perfect sense, to her anyway. 

A grin appeared on her face. "Yes, I will."

And so, with a satchel full of clothes and money given to her by the staff for her trip to St. Petersburg, a place she knew in her heart was familiar, and wrapped in a well made coat that would withstand the weather for a few years at least, she waved goodbye to the nurses who were sad to see her go. Even some patients stood at the windows, waving and shouting goodbye to a woman who, to them, was the definition of kindness.

With one last look back and a small smile on her face that people would later say resembled the one found on the face of the Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna Romanova, Alexandra stepped over the threshold of the hospital and into the crowded snow covered streets of a Bolshevik-freed Yekaterinburg.

**Author's Note:**

> O and T will have their own versions soon, and they all will be different from one another don't worry!
> 
> After I've written them, we can continue the 'Alexandra and Anya' story.


End file.
